Department for Transport

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Vacancies

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the devolved administrations on the level of potential disruption to UK supply chains over the Christmas 2021 period as a result of the heavy goods vehicle driver shortage.

Trudy Harrison: Ministers and officials engage regularly with representatives of the devolved administrations on a wide range of topics including the availability of HGV drivers. Most recently, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Transport, Baroness Vere of Norbiton met with Ministers from the devolved administrations to discuss the HGV driver shortage on 9 December 2021. The Government has implemented 32 specific interventions to date to help alleviate the existing HGV driver shortages. Recent assessments by industry bodies suggest that the shortfall in drivers is starting to ease.

Motorways

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of pausing all work on forthcoming smart motorway projects pending the Government’s response to the Transport Committee's report entitled Rollout and safety of smart motorways.

Trudy Harrison: The Transport Select Committee’s (TSC) report Rollout and safety of smart motorways was published on 2 November 2021, and the Department has since been considering its recommendations in detail. The Government will be providing a formal response to the Committee meeting its deadline of 10 January 2022. The Secretary of State’s focus since assuming office has been to ensure that smart motorways are as safe as they can be, and I can assure the Honourable Member that we are taking the Transport Committee’s recommendations seriously.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Business: Imports

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has met with business groups to discuss the capacity of the UK’s ports and associated storage facilities ahead of Christmas 2021.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact on businesses of any delays at UK ports caused by delayed customs checks.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy,  whether he has made an assessment of the impact on businesses of any problems at UK ports caused by shortages of storage capacity for imported goods.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the impact on businesses of any problems at UK ports caused by congestion and delays on roads connected to those ports.

Lee Rowley: The situation faced by UK businesses and others across the globe is a result of high consumer demand, and the ongoing disruption caused by Covid-19 pressures. This is a global problem, and the UK is experiencing challenges similar to other countries at the current time. Global capacity at ports regularly fluctuates in response to increased seasonal demand and this has been exacerbated by the ongoing global container and HGV driver shortages. The Government continues to work closely with the freight industry to tackle the challenges faced by some ports this winter. The Department has ongoing engagement with businesses and organisations across a range of sectors to understand the impact that these pressures are having on the ground. In addition, Sir Dave Lewis, former CEO of Tesco, was appointed in October to act as the UK Government’s supply chain adviser and provide a further link between business and government. We continue to work closely with industry to identify and understand the causes of supply chain issues and pre-empt future issues.

Dungeness B Power Station: Power Failures

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many outages or other periods of unavailability of electricity generation there have been per reactor, in days, at Dungeness (B) power station in each year since 2010.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many outages or other periods of unavailability of electricity generation there have been per reactor, in days, at Hartlepool power station in each year since 2010.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many outages or other periods of unavailability of electricity generation there have been per reactor, in days, at Heysham power station in each year since 2010.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many outages or other periods of unavailability of electricity generation there have been per reactor, in days, at Heysham II power station in each year since 2010.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many outages or other periods of unavailability of electricity generation there have been per reactor, in days, at Hinkley Point (B) power station in each year since 2010.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy,  how many outages or other periods of unavailability of electricity generation there have been per reactor, in days, at Hunterston (B) power station in each year since 2010.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy,  how many outages or other periods of unavailability of electricity generation there have been per reactor, in days, at Torness power station in each year since 2010.

Greg Hands: Nuclear power continues to be an important and proven source of reliable, clean energy, and as a result of this strong baseload provision, we have been able to move faster on a number of our key net zero objectives. In 2020, nuclear power stations generated 50 TWh of electricity, which was 16% of the electricity generated in the UK. The UK’s Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor Fleet has performed beyond original expectations providing extra years of generation. A proportion of the nuclear generating capacity is likely to be unavailable at any given point due to routine inspections, maintenance, energy systems management and technical issues.   2010 – 2021: Annual number of outages and non-operational days at UK nuclear Advanced Gas Cooled (AGR) power stations   Dungeness B R21Dungeness B R22Hartlepool R1Hartlepool R2Heysham 1 R1Heysham 1 R2Heysham 2 R7Heysham 2 R8 OutagesDays non operationalOutagesDays non operationalOutagesDays non operationalOutagesDays non operationalOutagesDays non operationalOutagesDays non operationalOutagesDays non operationalOutagesDays non operational2010023041013493862152311915125120114260324961292502224242823322012517221813472374715133463002013510281824484133214175012827420149179610631224144324631380011201544431292794793772136270002016441757513237924634700165201761535922264292983753900201841273140210932933117138914201903650365641311723958600252020036603662293623130371192822021034603462114313541296953193565  Hinkley Point B R3Hinkley Point B R4Hunterston B R3Hunterston B R4Torness R1Torness R2 OutagesDays non operationalOutagesDays non operationalOutagesDays non operationalOutagesDays non operationalOutagesDays non operationalOutagesDays non operational201025444421413651432152011236390342264413419201248632016000002882013191230014811241720141330032531093793182015161853691400286201647716327116141120173283512271651631220182181643301190245862019296130365125700002020224813140243027100162021214711302642714142472  Notes on TableDays non operational represents days where a reactor didn’t generate at all during a day.If output in a day is > 0, then the day is counted as an operational day.Outages represent the number of occurrences where a reactor was non-operational.2021 is until 12th December 2021 only.Dungeness moved into its defueling phase in June 2021, having been in an extended outage since September 2018N/A means not available.

Sizewell B Power Station: Power Failures

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many outages or other periods of unavailability of electricity generation there have been, in days, at Sizewell (B) power station in each year since 2010.

Greg Hands: Nuclear power continues to be an important and proven source of reliable, clean energy, and as a result of this strong baseload provision, we have been able to move faster on a number of our key net zero objectives. In 2020, nuclear power stations generated 50 TWh of electricity, which was 16% of the electricity generated in the UK. The UK has one Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) at Sizewell B, which is expected to operate until at least 2035. A proportion of the nuclear generating capacity is likely to be unavailable at any given point due to routine inspections, maintenance, energy systems management and technical issues.   2010 – 2021: Annual number of outages and non-operational days at the UK’s Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) nuclear power station   Sizewell B OutagesDays non operational201011962011253201248320131472014146201500201616220171582018030201916520201220211127 Notes on TableDays non operational represents days where a reactor didn’t generate at all during a day.If output in a day is > 0, then the day is counted as an operational day.Outages represent the number of occurrences where a reactor was non-operational.2021 is to 16 December 2021 only.

Business: Coronavirus

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many businesses have received Government support during the ongoing covid-19 outbreak in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, (b) Bexley Borough, (c) Greater London and (d) the UK.

Paul Scully: All data on Government allocations and Local Authority payments of Covid-19 grant schemes is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses. Breakdowns of all Government Covid-19 loans by constituency, borough and regional area are available for download from the British Business Bank website.

Employment Bill

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish the Government's proposed Employment Bill.

Paul Scully: The Employment Bill is a core part of Building Back Better, supporting the Government’s aim to build a high skilled, high productivity, high wage economy that delivers on our ambition to make the UK the best place in the world to work and grow a business. COVID-19 is having a profound impact on the labour market, so it is right that we introduce the Employment Bill when we are sure it will address the needs of businesses and workers in the post-Covid economy. We will bring forward the Employment Bill when the Parliamentary time allows it. In the meantime, we will continue to take necessary action to support businesses and protect jobs.

Drax Power Station: Closures

David Warburton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the remaining coal plants at the Drax power station will close in September 2022.

Greg Hands: The Government has committed to phasing out unabated coal generation in Great Britain by October 2024. Closure of coal units ahead of this date is a commercial decision for the companies involved. The Drax Group, which operates Drax Power Station, has previously announced its intention to close coal units at the site in September 2022.

Drax Power Station: Timber

David Warburton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the maximum number of years is following the cutting down of trees used to make wood pellets for the Drax power station within which replanting must (a) start and (b) match the number of trees felled.

Greg Hands: The Government does not hold this information. In accordance with the government’s strict sustainability criteria, where biomass is sourced from forests, it needs to be sourced from areas managed in a way that is consistent with sustainable forest management practices, irrespective of location.

Attorney General

Trials

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, whether (a) she or (b) the Crown Prosecution Service have set a maximum limit on the amount of time criminal cases should await trial, to act as a target for capping and reducing the increase in waiting times.

Alex Chalk: Neither the Attorney General nor the Crown Prosecution Service set maximum limits for the number of criminal cases awaiting trial.

Department of Health and Social Care

Ear, Nose and Throat Conditions: Health Services

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of waiting times for an outpatient appointment at Ear, Nose and Throat Departments in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England.

Edward Argar: The following table shows average mean waiting time in days for first attended outpatient appointments for the treatment specialty ear, nose and throat in Coventry and Rugby Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), the West Midlands and England in 2020/21. Data for 2021/22 is not currently available. EnglandWest MidlandsCoventry and Rugby CCG777488

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an urgent statement on recent reports that the redevelopment of West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust hospitals at Watford, St Albans and Hemel Hempstead has been paused by the New Hospital Programme.

Edward Argar: The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to work with West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust on the development of their plans for a new hospital scheme. The overall delivery of the scheme has not been paused.

Ambulance Services: Closures

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many ambulance stations have closed by region in England in each of the last six years.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has carried out on the potential impact of the closure of community ambulance stations in rural areas.

Edward Argar: The data on how many ambulance stations have closed by region in England in each of the last six years is not collected centrally. No assessment has been carried out on the potential impact of the closure of community ambulance stations in rural areas.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer Questions 61106 and 61107 tabled by the hon. Member for Sheffield South East.

Edward Argar: I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Questions 61106 and 61107.

Tomography

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many computerised tomography scanners there are in NHS hospitals in England as of 8 November 2021.

Edward Argar: The information requested for 8 November 2021 is not yet available. However, the most recent data collected for 2020/21 shows 579 computerised tomography scanners in National Health Service hospitals.

NHS: Coronavirus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of NHS staff that would leave the service as a result of vaccine mandates.

Edward Argar: An impact statement setting out an estimate of the potential range of impacts on health and care workforce levels in England was published alongside the Government’s response to the consultation on vaccination as a condition of deployment. The impact assessment is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1032255/making-vaccination-a-condition-of-deployment-in-the-health-and-wider-social-care-sector-impact_statement.pdfThis estimates that 73,000 National Health Service workers would remain unvaccinated at the start of enforcement despite not being medically exempt. These workers would therefore no longer be deployable into an in-scope role.

Magnetic Resonance Imagers

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many magnetic resonance imaging units there are in NHS hospitals in England as of 8 November 2021.

Edward Argar: The information requested for 8 November 2021 is not yet available. However, the most recent data collected in 2020/21, shows 488 magnetic resonance imaging units in National Health Service hospitals.

Department of Health and Social Care: Meller Group

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what Freedom of Information requests his Department has received in respect of correspondence and records of meetings between the former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Innovation, Lord Feldman, and Meller Designs Limited; when those requests were submitted; whether his Department intends to release the information requested; and if he will place copies in the Library.

Edward Argar: The Department has received two relevant Freedom of Information requests. The first was received on 2 March 2021 and responded to 30 March 2021. The second was received on 28 June 2021 and is being considered for release. We aim to answer it as soon as possible. Copies of both requests and the response to the request of 2 March are attached.Attachment 1 (pdf, 1647.4KB)Attachment 2 (pdf, 48.6KB)

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost is to the public purse of personal protective equipment procured through the high priority lane during the covid-19 outbreak that did not meet NHS standards for use, by contract.

Edward Argar: We are unable to provide the information as it is commercially sensitive. A quality assurance process is in place to determine the efficacy of equipment before it is distributed. Products are only distributed if they meet the relevant standards set out in the technical specification for personal protective equipment. The Department is undertaking a comprehensive review of stock. Where products fail to meet specified standards, the Department seeks resolution with the supplier. For stock that cannot be used for its original intended purpose, work is ongoing to identify whether it can be repurposed or donated.

Princess Royal Hospital Telford

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will hold further discussions with relevant stakeholders on the provision of an A&E Local at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.

Edward Argar: The range of services being offered through the urgent care model at the Princess Royal Hospital will be determined locally in the business case development and approval process. This will include further engagement with local stakeholders.

Hospitals: Shropshire

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential (a) merits and (b) cost of building a single site hospital as part of the Future Fit Programme at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.

Edward Argar: The Future Fit Programme refers to the consolidation of the emergency services in Shrewsbury and Telford to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and to creating an urgent treatment centre model in the Royal Princess Hospital in Telford. The single site emergency centre proposal was one element of the clinical model developed in response to the case of change. Along with a planned care centre, it has been included in all options considered for acute hospital services since 2014.It is for local commissioners to suggest new reconfigurations of services, including the potential of building a single site hospital. All reconfigurations should adhere to the local assurance process including public and local stakeholder engagement.

Coronavirus: Screening

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of recognising positive results from antibody testing as proof of natural immunity, particularly for the purposes of acquiring an NHS covid pass.

Maggie Throup: No formal assessment has been made. Currently, the duration of the body’s antibody response to coronavirus remains unknown, and there is no guarantee that an individual cannot transmit the virus to others post-infection. Immune protection may weaken depending on the time elapsed since infection, and antibody tests alone do not indicate when a person was infected. For this reason, recovered status in the National Health Service COVID Pass is acquired through a positive Polymerase Chain Reaction test and not an antibody test.

Coronavirus: Screening

Jacob Young: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the supply of lateral flow tests for use by close contacts of positive covid-19 cases.

Maggie Throup: There is no shortage of lateral flow tests and we continue to procure enough stock to meet ongoing demand through national and local delivery channels. We are also ensuring that lateral flow device tests can be delivered to homes, collected from local pharmacies and some community sites.

Zero-hours Contracts: Coronavirus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support the Government is providing to people on zero hours contracts who are required to self-isolate due to covid-19 restrictions.

Maggie Throup: Employees, including those on zero hours contracts who are unable to work due to COVID-19 symptoms or they are self-isolating should inform their employer. They should work from home if they can and are well enough to do so. If they cannot work from home, they may be eligible for the following support:- The £500 Test and Trace Support Payment for those on low incomes who have to self-isolate because they have tested positive for COVID-19 or been notified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive and they are not exempt from self-isolation;- Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from their employer;- New Style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) for those not eligible for SSP, who are under State Pension age and have made enough National Insurance contributions, which may also be available if their child has symptoms or is self-isolating;- Universal Credit for individuals or their partner under State Pension age and have £16,000 or less in savings, which could also available alongside SSP or New Style ESA;- Pension Credit for those with symptoms or self-isolating and their partner at State Pension age, which could also be available with SSP.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the transmissibility of the omicron variant of covid-19 at large outdoor events.

Maggie Throup: No specific assessment has been made. The transmissibility of COVID-19 at large outdoor events was previously assessed through the Government’s Events Research Programme (ERP). The ERP considered transmission risk across a range of social, cultural and sporting venues and the findings are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/events-research-programme-phase-ii-and-iii-findingsThe ERP studies took place earlier in the year at a time when the Delta variant was emerging. The studies included large outdoor venues, including at Wembley. The ERP studies reported that COVID-19 transmission at such events were complex and contextual and was associated with various environmental and behavioural risk factors.

Coronavirus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the accuracy of reports that the omicron variant of covid-19 causes mild disease.

Maggie Throup: The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has not made a specific assessment on the accuracy of the reports that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 causes mild disease.The UKHSA is in regular contact with counterparts in South Africa and continues to monitor the situation there closely.For any given population, the apparent severity of infections with the Omicron variant will be influenced by a number of factors including that population’s immunity, its population structure (proportion of younger to older age groups), prevalence of predisposing health conditions and access to healthcare. As a result of inherent differences in those factors between the populations of South Africa and the United Kingdom (UK), the experience in South Africa cannot be directly extrapolated to the UK setting. As such, at the present time it is too early to state with certainty what the intrinsic severity of Omicron will be in the UK.

Travel: Quarantine

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to limit the spread of covid-19 in hotels where international arrivals are required to quarantine.

Maggie Throup: The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has risk assessed international arrival journeys and advised the Managed Quarantine Service (MQS) on what mitigations to apply. The Standard Operating Procedures for MQS facilities have been implemented to reduce the risk of COVID-19 variants and infections. Each MQS supplier adheres to requirements set out in their contractual obligations in relation to infection control guidelines. The UKHSA also undertakes regular reviews with stakeholders to reduce the risk of infection for staff, guests and the public. The UKHSA also undertake regular staff testing and assist incident management teams to address any infection outbreaks.

Coronavirus: Screening

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has taken steps to help ensure that laboratories conducting covid-19 testing are able to maintain the same rate of tests over the Christmas 2021 period.

Maggie Throup: The National Health Service and the UK Health Security Agency have built a United Kingdom-wide laboratory network with capacity to process 618,000 polymerase chain reaction tests per day. In light of the spread of the Omicron variant, we are increasing this capacity by up to 200,000 tests per day. We expect some of this capacity to be available before Christmas. We have also transitioned to the new Omicron mutation target assay in seven out of 10 laboratories, providing three to four times increased capacity and detection.

Abortion

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many women have received medical abortion pills for home use beyond the legal limit of ten weeks’ gestation since March 2020.

Maggie Throup: The information is not held in the format requested as abortion notification forms (HSA4) submitted by clinics and hospitals to the Chief Medical Officer at the Department do not record the number of individual women.HSA4 Abortion Notification Forms received by the Department show there were eight medical abortions at 10 weeks gestation and above where both medications were taken at home. Cases of home use where gestation exceeds nine weeks and six days are being followed up, to confirm if the forms were completed correctly, and if so, to obtain the case details.The Department acknowledges there are limits with abortion data that is currently collected. We are examining, with partner organisations, how well these systems are working and what improvements are needed.The Department is also continuing to work closely with organisations such as the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to monitor the temporary approval of home use of both early medical abortion pills up to 10 weeks gestation. This includes sharing information between the CQC and Department where serious incidents related to the temporary approval take place.

Hepatitis

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to publish updated prevalence estimates for hepatitis C at the level of Hepatitis C Operational Delivery Networks in 2022.

Maggie Throup: The hepatitis C report for 2021, which contains data up to and including 2020, will be published in early 2022. The UK Health Security Agency is working alongside NHS England to develop a dashboard to provide accurate epidemiological data at Operational Delivery Network level.

Coronavirus: Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications have been received under the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979 for compensation for disabilities caused by covid-19 vaccinations; how many staff in his Department are engaged in assessing those applications; and how many of those applications have (a) been successful, (b) been rejected and (c) are still under consideration as of 2 December 2021 as of 2 December 2021.

Maria Caulfield: As of 6 December 2021, 562 claims have been received to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme regarding the COVID-19 vaccines. These claims are currently being processed and have no outcome at this stage.

Coronavirus: Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people who have (a) died and (b) suffered serious illness as a result of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine against covid-19; and whether he is taking steps to inform victims and their relatives of the provisions of the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979.

Maria Caulfield: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) publishes weekly data on the number of reports of suspected thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome. As of 24 November 2021, the MHRA had received Yellow Card reports of 427 suspected cases of major thromboembolic events with concurrent thrombocytopenia in the United Kingdom of which 74 were fatal. This follows the administration of 50 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in the UK, including 24.9 million first and 24.1 million second doses.The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme covers 18 diseases, including COVID-19 and those who are concerned harm may have been caused as a result of vaccination may apply to the Scheme.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the uptake of the covid-19 vaccine among pregnant women.

Maggie Throup: Vaccine toolkits for local services, stakeholders, partners and employers address concerns around pregnancy, breastfeeding and fertility. Additionally, we have shared case stories in the media of women of childbearing age who have received the COVID-19 vaccine before, during or after pregnancy to reassure women with concerns. Locally, we have supported webinars and engagement sessions focused on women’s concerns and tailored to demographic groups. We have also introduced new communications through social media focused on younger women.NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with regional teams and providers to ensure that advice on vaccination in pregnancy, including the risks and benefits, is being offered antenatally and that information materials are available across antenatal and primary care settings. NHS England and NHS Improvement have asked maternity and primary care services to support all general practitioners, practice nurses, midwives and obstetricians to give objective, evidence-based advice to women on vaccination in pregnancy at every antenatal contact.Local systems are encouraged to implement best practice on vaccinating pregnant women opportunistically during maternity appointments wherever possible. All National Health Service regions have pathways with maternity providers in place, to facilitate antenatal vaccination through mobile or pop-up clinics, those at maternity sites or local or national vaccination centres. We are currently considering a targeted approach for the identification and invitation of pregnant women under the age of 18 years old.

Immunosuppression: Coronavirus

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to publicise the ongoing risk of covid-19 to immunocompromised groups to (a) patients with those conditions and (b) the wider public.

Maggie Throup: On 6 December we updated the online guidance ‘Coronavirus: how to stay safe and help prevent the spread’, which advises that immunocompromised individuals should take advice from their health professional on whether additional precautions are necessary to minimise their risk of infection.On 1 September 2021, the Government accepted advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to offer a third primary dose of vaccine to individuals aged 12 years old and over with severe immunosuppression, as a precautionary measure. A specialist or clinician involved should advise on whether a patient fulfils the eligibility criteria for severe immunosuppression and on the timing of any third primary. NHS England and NHS Improvement have developed tailored communications for specialists caring for each group of eligible patients within the severely immunosuppressed cohort. This includes template referral letters for clinicians to signpost patients appropriately to receive this vaccination.On 29 November 2021, in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant, the Government accepted advice from JCVI to offer a booster as a fourth dose to severely immunosuppressed individuals who have completed their primary course of three doses. NHS England and NHS Improvement is currently updating its guidance on the vaccination of these patients.Immunocompromised individuals are also a priority cohort for therapeutic treatments, such as monoclonal antibody therapies and novel antivirals which reduce the risk of hospitalisations and deaths. These novel treatments may be used to treat immune-deficient and immune-suppressed people in the United Kingdom who are at an increased risk of illness and death after contracting COVID-19. We plan to make treatments directly available to the highest risk groups, including those who are immunocompromised.We will continue to assess the risks posed by COVID-19 and take proportionate measures to protect immunocompromised individuals. We are ensuring that the risks and the measures taken are communicated effectively to those patients affected, their carers, clinicians and representative groups and the wider public.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2021 to Question 80898 on Coronavirus: Vaccination, what proportion of 12 to 15 year olds have had their covid-19 vaccination in (a) Arun District Council area, (b) Bognor Regis, (c) West Sussex and (d) England as of 9 December 2021.

Maggie Throup: Information on the proportion of 12 to 15 year olds who have had their COVID-19 vaccination administered in England as of 9 December 2021 is not available in the specific format requested. However, the UK Health Security Agency’s weekly COVID-19 and flu surveillance report for the week ending 5 December 2021 showed that the vaccine uptake rate in 12 to 15 year olds with at least one dose was 43.5%.Information on the proportion of 12 to 15-year olds in West Sussex who have been vaccinated as of 9 December 2021 is not currently available. While vaccination data by Lower Tier Local Authority is published daily on the UK COVID-19 Dashboard, this data is updated daily. Daily vaccination data for Arun District Council and West Sussex is available at the following links:https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations?areaType=utla&areaName=West%20Sussexhttps://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations?areaType=ltla&areaName=ArunInformation on the proportion of those aged 12 to 15 years old in Bognor who have been vaccinated is not held in the format requested.

Respiratory System: Diseases

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the impact of covid-19 on adult uptake of vaccine preventable respiratory diseases.

Maggie Throup: We have no existing plans to make an assessment.

Care Homes: Coronavirus

Dame Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the uptake of covid-19 booster vaccines amongst people offered them in care homes; and if he will make a statement.

Dame Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many care home residents have received a covid-19 booster vaccination who received their second covid-19 vaccination outside the care home setting.

Maggie Throup: By 14 December 2021, 99% of older persons’ homes had been visited by specialist vaccination teams to deliver the booster programme, with the remaining care homes scheduled to be visited before 24 December. As of 12 December 2021, 251,340 residents and 114,510 staff had received a booster dose across all older adult care homes in England. By the same date, 25,974 staff and 22,727 residents of younger adult care homes had received the booster vaccination. Information on residents who received their vaccination outside the care home setting is not held centrally.

Social Services: Recruitment

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle recruitment challenges in the adult social care sector.

Gillian Keegan: On 10 December, we announced £300 million to support local authorities and care providers to recruit and retain care staff through the winter. This funding will enhance the existing £162.5 million Workforce Recruitment and Retention Fund, which was announced on 21 October. The latest phase of our adult social care national recruitment campaign launched in early November and will run until March 2022.

Social Services: Fees and Charges

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect of not including means-tested council funded support within the £86,000 cap on care costs on the number of people that will be unable to pay for social care without selling their home.

Gillian Keegan: The Government’s reforms to the social care charging system will ensure that fewer people will be unable to pay for social care without selling their home, compared to the existing system. This is the case irrespective of whether means-tested council funded support is included in the cap.In designing these reforms, we have prioritised a more generous means-testing system, which benefits those with moderate to low wealth. From October 2023, those with less than £100,000 of chargeable assets are now likely to receive financial help from the state. This is more than four times the current threshold of £23,250.

Eating Disorders: Mental Health Services

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Mental health clinically-led review of standards, if he will introduce a new access standard that measures clinically meaningful contact for adults with eating disorders; and if he will publish data that provides transparency on waiting times from referral to the start of evidence-based treatment for adults with eating disorders.

Gillian Keegan: NHS England and NHS Improvement have consulted on the potential to introduce five new waiting time standards, as part of its clinically led review of National Health Service access standards. This includes a standard for adults presenting to community-based mental health services, including those with eating disorders, should start to receive help within four weeks from referral. This consultation closed on 1 September 2021 and NHS England and NHS Improvement expect to publish a response in due course. Data will be published on any new waiting time standards when fully implemented and embedded in services.

Mental Health Services: Veterans

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many veterans were (a) referred to or (b) contacted Op Courage for support in (ii) April-July and (ii) August-November 2021.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many veterans received support from Op Courage between (a) April-July and (b) August-November 2021.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the average amount of time it takes between an individual making initial contact with Op Courage to that individual attending an assessment appointment.

Gillian Keegan: Op COURAGE is the collective term for three NHS England services: Transition, Intervention and Liaison Services; Complex Treatment Service; and High Intensity Service. NHS England do not hold data on waiting times for veterans across the three services which form Op COURAGE. There may be some duplication in the data collected on veterans accessing each service, depending on the needs of the individual.The following table shows waiting times for assessment in Transition, Intervention and Liaison Services and Complex Treatment Service from April to October 2021/22. Data for November is not yet available.Average waiting time in daysTransition, Intervention and Liaison ServicesComplex Treatment ServiceOffered assessment1414Attended assessment1616 The average waiting time for the High Intensity Service from referral to first contact in 2021/22 is four days. The following table shows the number of veterans who were referred to or contacted Op Courage for support in April to July and August to October 2021. Period of referralTransition, Intervention and Liaison ServicesComplex Treatment ServiceHigh Intensity ServiceTotalApril to July1,5281792171,924August to October1,2121192161,547 The following table shows the number of veterans who received support from Op Courage between April to July and August to October 2021. Month of attendanceTransition, Intervention and Liaison ServicesComplex Treatment ServiceHigh Intensity ServiceApril to July187138184August to October142107178

Department for Education

Special Educational Needs: Dorset

Chris Loder: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the provision of services for children with special educational needs and disabilities in (a) Dorset and (b) West Dorset constituency.

Will Quince: Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) carry out local area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inspections. Inspectors will look for evidence of how children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities (or both) are identified and how their needs are assessed and met. They also look for evidence of how they are supported to move on to their next stage of education, the world of work and wider preparations for adulthood.Dorset, which includes the district of West Dorset, had a local area SEND inspection in January 2017 and were required to produce a Written Statement of Action to improve in four areas of significant weakness. They were revisited by Ofsted and the CQC in February 2019 and were found to have improved in two of the four areas. An Accelerated Progress Plan to address the two areas that had not made sufficient progress was then put in place, with the department and NHS England providing challenge and support to make the required improvements. By January 2021, the department and NHS England judged that Dorset had made sufficient progress in both areas.The department is currently working with Ofsted and the CQC on an amended SEND inspection framework. Dorset’s SEND services will be inspected again as part of this.

Skills Bootcamps

James Daly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many participants on Skills Bootcamps have attended job interviews; and of those participants, how many and what proportion have been offered a job following an interview.

Alex Burghart: We have now published the outcome data from wave 1 of the Skills Bootcamps, delivered between September 2020 and 31 March 2021. This outcome data shows that Skills Bootcamps are supporting individuals to access new opportunities and are helping them progress in their careers.Between September 2020 and March 2021, over 2000 participants completed a Skills Bootcamp, of which at least 54% of individuals achieved a positive outcome as a result. A positive outcome is defined as a new full or part time job or apprenticeship, a new role, or increased responsibilities with their current employer. For the self-employed, a positive outcome is defined as access to new opportunities.In addition to these recorded outcomes, published research for wave 1 of the Skills Bootcamps highlights that three quarters of learners felt the training met or was meeting their needs, and 79% were satisfied with their course overall.A guaranteed interview is a key part of the Skills Bootcamps offer in wave 2 and for all future delivery. Detailed data about attended job interviews is not available as part of outcomes data from wave 1 of the Skills Bootcamps. However, the department is currently commissioning impact evaluations for waves 2 and 3 of the Skills Bootcamps, which will provide further evidence and learning to inform future delivery. We are working with providers in wave 2 of the programme to ensure they provide consistent and accurate data.

Special Educational Needs: Codes of Practice

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress his Department has made on reviewing the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice.

Will Quince: The department is currently conducting a major review of the special educational needs and disability (SEND) system. In the first three months of 2022 we will launch a consultation on our proposals. We will need to consider the outcome of our consultation to determine whether any legislative changes are required in relation to any parts of the SEND system.The SEND Code of Practice is statutory guidance about the exercise of SEND functions under Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014. We will therefore be consulting on updating the Code as part of delivering a reformed SEND system.

Autism and Hyperactivity

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the level of demand for (a) specialised training for professionals and education providers working in the autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder sector and (b) support for females diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps he has taken to progress implementation of the Government's national strategy for autistic children, young people and adults: 2021 to 2026; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding available specifically for girls and women diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in (a) educational settings and (b) care homes.

Will Quince: The government is committed to addressing the inequalities experienced by autistic people of all ages. Within the new autism strategy, published in July 2021 and extended to children and young people for the first time, we set out how we will continue our programme of developing training and resources for education staff and will consider the issue of identification and support for autistic girls within this. We know that more needs to be done to improve autism identification for girls. That is why, as part of the wider work on improving diagnostic pathways, NHS England/Improvement is looking at ways to improve the quality of diagnosis for girls.We also want the public to understand how autism can affect people differently, including the difference in how autistic women and girls present, and to help change people’s behaviour towards autistic people and their families.In the strategy’s first year alone, we are investing £74 million to promote a straightforward route to diagnosis, the correct support, increasing understanding and improving access to a quality education and social care. Work is currently underway to deliver on the actions for the first year, set out in our implementation plan (2021- 2022). We are also in the process of putting in place a new governance structure to ensure there is accountability for delivery of the actions in the autism strategy, which we are aiming to establish in the new year.£600,000 of this funding has gone towards the department’s contract with the Autism Education Trust (AET) for 2021/22, to deliver autism awareness training to education staff in early years, schools and further education settings. This contract has been provided annually since 2011, and has so far reached more than 305,000 people across the country.Through this contract with the AET, the department has funded the development of Good Autism Practice Guidance for education settings. This includes a focus on attending to the strengths, needs and challenges of autistic girls.The department has also provided £2 million of funding for the Whole School SEND consortium in 2021/22, through our contract with Nasen. This will continue their wider programme of work to equip the workforce to deliver high quality teaching for all children and young people with SEND, including autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, this year.Local authorities have a statutory duty to ensure there are sufficient places to meet the needs of children in their care, including autistic children who need to be cared for in a children’s home. Local authorities set their own children’s services budget from their core spending power, based on local need and priorities. This year, 2021-22, councils have access to £51.3 billion core spending power for their services, including a £1.7 billion grant for social care.My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced at Spending Review 2021 that the government will provide local authorities with £4.8 billion of new grant funding over the next Spending Review period, which is intended to help meet the costs of delivering care for our most vulnerable children.

Schools: Physical Education and Sports

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his timeframe is for setting out a long-term funding for physical education and school sport.

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to confirm details of future funding allocations for the primary physical education and sport premium funding.

Will Quince: Physical education remains a foundation subject which is compulsory at all four key stages of the national curriculum. As such, physical education is funded from the core schools’ budget.The department is considering arrangements for the primary PE and sport premium for the 2022-23 academic year and beyond. We are aware of the importance of providing schools with sufficient notice of future funding and will confirm the position as early as possible in the new year.The department is also working to deliver on the nearly £30 million announced in October towards improving and opening up school sport facilities in England, as well as to improve the teaching of PE at primary school. We will continue to work closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Department of Health and Social Care to deliver on the aims of the school sport and activity action plan which we will be updating next year.

Offences against Children

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to review the Serious Case Reviews from the last 20 years and (a) make an assessment of the effectiveness of that process and (b) ensure lessons learned have been implemented and relevant policies updated in response to the findings of those reviews.

Will Quince: Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) are locally led enquiries and as such most recommendations are for local safeguarding partnerships to implement. Those that include national recommendations are considered by those with responsibility across government. The department has also commissioned regular reviews of SCRs to analyse their content, the latest of which was published in March 2020.Since 2018, SCRs have been replaced by Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews, which introduced a stronger focus on learning from serious incidents. As part of the new multi-agency safeguarding arrangements, Safeguarding Partnerships are required to report annually on how they have implemented the learning from local reviews. These are published and submitted to the National Panel.

Supported Housing: Young People

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to increase the use of supported lodgings provision for young people aged 16 and over; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will publish guidance on supported lodgings for local authorities and providers.

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will collect and publish data on the number of young people placed in supported lodgings settings, as part of the statistics on looked after children released annually by his Department.

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department will publish its response to the consultation on national standards for unregulated provision.

Will Quince: This government firmly believes that every child in the care system deserves to live in a high-quality setting that meets their needs and keeps them safe.We are clear that semi-independent provision can be the right option for some older children, which includes supported lodgings provision. The government is equally clear that this provision must always be of high quality and the young person must be ready for the level of independence it promotes. That is why, following our recent consultation, through which we received views from over 215 respondents and 45 care experienced young people, we have announced that we will invest over £142 million across the next three years to fund the introduction of new mandatory national standards and Ofsted registration and inspection for providers of this provision. These vital reforms are a landmark change for children’s social care, with all providers that accommodate looked after children and care leavers up to 18 now being regulated by Ofsted. We will lay the regulations and accompanying statutory guidance for these reforms in 2022.The department has published a full consultation response which provides further details of our plans and associated timescales in this area, which is available here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/children-in-care-and-permanence/introducing-national-standards-for-unregulated-pro/.These vital reforms will not only increase the quality of provision and ensure we have effective levers for acting where provision is not good enough, but they will also enable us to develop a much better understanding of the different types of provision in this area, and potentially the extent of the role each provision type should play in meeting the needs of children in future. We will continue to work closely with providers, including those who offer supported lodgings, to ensure the sector can provide high quality placements for young people that meet their needs and keep them safe.The department collects information on where looked after children are placed. This information is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions/2021.On 31 March 2021, some 4,180 children were placed in ‘Semi-independent living accommodation not subject to children’s homes regulations’’ which includes lodgings, flats and bedsits where supervisory staff or advice workers are specifically employed and available to provide advice and support to the residents. This information can be found in table A2 of the release here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/fast-track/673c7602-892f-4b03-5aff-08d98e357d76.The department also collects data on care leavers, whose 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th or 21st birthday falls within the collection period, including the type of accommodation that a care leaver is living in. Supported lodgings describes where care leavers receive formal advice and support from a “host family”, usually in a family home. These figures are also published in the annual statistical release.On 31 March 2021, some 1,450 care leavers aged 19 to 21 were located in this type of accommodation. The equivalent figure for 17 and 18 year olds was 810 and can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/fast-track/8706180c-2bdb-481e-20da-08d99c9bf8eb.As we implement the reforms set out above, we will consider changes to our data collections, including providing a more granular breakdown of this type of provision.

Department for Education: Carbon Emissions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Michelle Donelan: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced a range of measures at COP26 to put climate change and sustainability at the heart of education. These included a draft sustainability and climate change strategy for the education and children’s services systems, a new national education nature park and climate leaders award.The Department for Education’s vision is for the UK education sector to be a world leader in sustainability and climate change by 2030, as set out in the department’s draft sustainability and climate change strategy. The education estate is a key action area within the strategy. We will support the sector in reducing carbon emissions, adapting and mitigating to the worst impacts of climate change, and increasing biodiversity. We will contribute to carbon reduction through delivering new school buildings, improving the existing school estate and engaging users in the process of managing buildings for the greatest impact.By 2023 all new school buildings delivered by the Department for Education (not already contracted) will be net zero in operation. We will also continue to develop and test the GenZero prototype for the future new build of schools, designed to be ultra-low in construction carbon and net zero in operation.The Department for Education estates’ ambition is to embed sustainability in our business process and achieve our net zero target across all activities by 2050 in line with the Government Property Agency and the UK government commitment.We are committed to playing our part to support the labour market transition to net zero. In November last year, we established (jointly with The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) the Green Jobs Taskforce, which has helped to build the evidence on skills and workforce needs in key green sectors.That has informed our contribution to the Net Zero Strategy which was published on 19 October. Building on the Skills for Jobs White Paper, the Net Zero Strategy sets out how our skills reforms will strengthen links between employers and providers, support workers in high carbon sectors with the transition, and help to build a pipeline of future talent.Our plan for net zero will generate thousands of well-paid jobs here in the UK, help us develop thriving, world-leading green industries, strengthen our energy security, and improve our health and wellbeing. Acting now will put us at the forefront of large, expanding global markets and allow us to capitalise on export opportunities.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners' Release: Housing

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to support prison leavers into permanent safe and secure housing beyond the 12 weeks of accommodation provided by his Department's temporary accommodation service.

Kit Malthouse: Our Prisons White Paper sets out our vision that no-one subject to probation supervision is released from prison homeless. This July we launched our Community Accommodation Service which provides up to twelve weeks temporary housing to prison leavers in five regions, with support to move to settled accommodation from an offender’s probation practitioner and the Community Rehabilitative Services. By 2024-25 we will spend £200 million a year to reduce reoffending, including improving prison leavers’ access to accommodation by expanding the Community Accommodation Service.The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) announced their Accommodation for Ex-Offenders (AfEO) scheme on 28 July 2021. Local authority-led schemes vary and include a mixture of funding deposits, insurance or landlord incentives to help people into their own home, as well as landlord liaison and ongoing tenancy support. The scheme has been developed, together with the Community Accommodation Service, to provide a pathway for prison leavers from prison into their own private rented sector accommodation. Overall, this year, £13 million has been allocated to 87 schemes across 145 local authorities.

Prisoners' Release: Females

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women have used his Department's temporary accommodation service for prison leavers since its implementation in summer 2021; and what steps have been taken in the provision of that service specifically to reflect the accommodation needs of women.

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of promoting a single definition of suitable accommodation outcome for vulnerable women leaving prison.

Kit Malthouse: Our Prisons White Paper sets out our vision that no-one subject to probation supervision is released from prison homeless. By 2024-25 we will spend £200 million a year to reduce reoffending, including improving prison leavers’ access to accommodation.Our temporary accommodation service currently provides up to 12 weeks temporary housing in five regions to prison leavers at risk of homelessness who are subject to probation supervision. The service takes account of the needs of women, including those with complex needs, with accommodation provision dedicated to single gender usage as required. Community Probation Practitioners, working together with local partners, are responsible for ensuring that vulnerable female prison leavers receive appropriate support and have access to additional support for women through the Women’s Commissioned Rehabilitation Service (CRS). This provision is a holistic service offer, delivered by expert and experienced women’s services, that covers a broad range of interventions including accommodation support.Accommodation circumstances for offenders are reported annually as official statistics. Data for the period 01 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 will be published in July 2022 in the Community Performance Annual report. In line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, access to these statistics before their public release is limited to those involved in the production of the statistics and the preparation of the release, and for quality assurance and operational purposes.HMPPS worked with colleagues in Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC) and the Welsh Government to agree a definition of homelessness, and they continue to work with them to ensure consistency and data quality. To ensure consistent and accurate data recording, HMPPS has recently updated the Accommodation Recording Guidance to ensure Probation regions have a clear and consistent understanding of the accommodation status definitions, and how to record accurately. The Guidance defines homelessness as where an individual is rough sleeping, squatting, residing in night shelters, emergency hostels or campsites.

Alternatives to Prison: Females

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of community sentences for female offenders as an alternative to short custodial prison sentences.

Victoria Atkins: Sentencing is a matter for the judiciary in individual cases. In line with the Government’s Female Offender Strategy, we want fewer women serving short sentences and more managed effectively in the community successfully. Community sentences offer the opportunity to support women to address the underlying causes of offending behaviour, and to secure and maintain stable accommodation. In addition, disruption to families is significantly less, reducing the risk of intergenerational offending. To support community provision, in May 2021 we announced £46 million probation funding over three years for services for women coming out of prison or serving community sentences and have invested £9.5m in the women’s community sector since 2018. We also have several initiatives underway that are looking to encourage use of robust community sentences as an alternative to custody for women, including Problem Solving Courts, Community Sentence Treatment Requirements, Electronic Monitoring and a Pre-Sentence Report pilot.

Prison Officers: Medals

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2021 to Question 80944 on Prison Officers: Medals, whether prison officers with an accumulated five years of service employed by his Department qualify as eligible to receive the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal.

Victoria Atkins: To qualify for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal staff must be in an eligible operational role in the public-sector prison service on 6 February 2022 and have completed 5 years operational service. The eligibility criteria does allow for operational public-sector service to be aggregated, which means that operational staff who have moved to a private-sector prison or a non-operational role for a period during their career, can include any previous operational public-sector service and aggregate it with service accumulated since they returned to their operational public-sector role.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Ethiopia: Arms Trade

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the extent to which a continued flow of arms to (a) the Government of Ethiopia and (b) other parties to the current conflict in Ethiopia is a barrier to ceasefires and a negotiated peace; and what representations the Government has made to countries supplying arms that may potentially be used in that conflict.

Vicky Ford: We are extremely concerned by the ongoing conflict in northern Ethiopia and the implications it has for the country as a whole. The UK is working to bring an end to the violence. I have called on all parties to urgently agree a ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid through. I spoke to Ethiopian Minister of Justice Gedion on 6 December and pressed for an end to the fighting and for peace talks. I have continued to emphasise the need for a ceasefire through recent calls with my African counterparts, including from Kenya and the African Union (AU). We have spoken with a variety of international partners about the situation in Ethiopia, and have urged them to support a ceasefire and support the efforts of AU High Representative Obasanjo to bring an end to the violence.Where items require an export licence, HM Government takes its strategic export responsibilities seriously and will assess all export licences in accordance with the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. We will not grant a licence authorising the supply of controlled items anywhere in the world, if to do so would be inconsistent with the Criteria. We continue to monitor the situation in Ethiopia closely, and we will take action to suspend, refuse or revoke licences - in line with the Criteria - if circumstances require.

Ethiopia: Peace Negotiations

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to support the African Union initiatives for ceasefires and negotiations between combatants in Ethiopia.

Vicky Ford: We are extremely concerned by the ongoing conflict in northern Ethiopia and the implications it has for the country as a whole. The UK is working to bring an end to the violence. I have called on all parties to urgently agree a ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid through. I spoke with State Minister for Foreign Affairs Redwan on 18 November, stressing the need for all parties to the conflict to engage in meaningful talks, lift the blockade on aid, and end the mobilisation of civilians and ethnically targeted arrests. I also spoke to Ethiopian Minister of Justice Gedion on 6 December and pressed for an end to the fighting and for peace talks. I have continued to emphasise the need for a ceasefire through recent calls with my international counterparts, including Kenya and the African Union (AU). I spoke with the AU High Representative for the Horn of African Region, Olusegun Obasanjo on 4 November to discuss the situation and make clear our strong support, for his efforts to end the conflict. I also spoke with AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Bankole, on 8 November and pressed him on the need for the AU to find a way forward.

Khaleda Zia

Sir Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Government of Bangladesh on permitting Khaleda Zia to travel abroad for medical treatment.

Amanda Milling: Lord Ahmad, the Minister for South Asia, visited Bangladesh on 15 November to 17 November and met with the Government of Bangladesh, civil society actors and other key figures. During the visit, Lord Ahmad reiterated the UK's commitment to supporting human rights and democratic values.We will continue to stress to the Government of Bangladesh, both in public and in private, the importance of respect for human rights and the rule of law. We expect those in detention, including Khaleda Zia, to be treated in accordance with Bangladesh's international commitments on human rights. We regularly engage with the Government of Bangladesh on the treatment of those in detention and on the integrity and independence of the judicial process.

Sudan: Politics and Government

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to prevent the (a) suppression of democracy in Sudan and (b) killing and oppression of people trying to achieve democracy in that country through peaceful means.

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to facilitate the immediate release of the protestors arrested by the military junta in Sudan.

Vicky Ford: I condemned the actions of the Sudanese military in the strongest terms in the House of Commons on 25 October. My call from that day remains: for the transition to be restored fully, for all detainees to be released and for Sudanese people be able to protest without fear of violence. We have delivered this message to the military leadership in Khartoum, in statements the Foreign Secretary and I made, and in international fora such as securing unanimous support for a resolution on Sudan at the UN Human Rights Council on 5 November.I am pleased that Dr Hamdok has since been reinstated as the Prime Minister of Sudan and that many detainees have been released following the Political Agreement on 21 November. The Agreement is an important first step towards restoring Sudan's transition to democracy, but we will continue to work with our international partners to maintain pressure on the military to deliver their commitments and, through their actions, rebuild trust with the Sudanese public and international community. Most recently we reinforced this at the UN Security Council on 10 December and at the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers meeting in Liverpool on 11 December.

Ethiopia: Humanitarian Aid

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent humanitarian support the Government had provided to people affected by the famine and conflict in the Oromia region of Ethiopia.

Vicky Ford: The humanitarian context in Oromia region is very challenging due to widespread armed violence although famine conditions are not present. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been forcibly displaced by active conflict with violence also making access to vulnerable communities extremely challenging. Some groups of internally displaced persons have not received food aid in over a year.The UK has provided £58.8 million in humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia in financial year 2021/22. We do not have information regarding the level of UK funding directed towards Oromia or any other province. The UK is supporting humanitarian agencies that work throughout Ethiopia. UK funded partners in Ethiopia deliver aid according to need in-line with the UK's commitments towards the humanitarian principles.

Ethiopia: Arms Trade

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that no UK-origin arms are being used to abuse human rights in Ethiopia.

Vicky Ford: We are extremely concerned by reports of widespread human rights violations and abuses in Ethiopia committed by all sides to the conflict and I raised our concerns with Ethiopian State Minister Redwan on 18 November and the Ethiopian Minister of Justice, Gedion, on 6 December. All those responsible for human rights violations and abuses should be held to account. I encourage all parties to implement the joint investigation's recommendations and ensure that victims have access to support. Our Ambassador in Addis Ababa and I continue to raise human rights issues in our discussions with all parties to the conflict, and more broadly we have reminded all warring parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Our priority is to ensure that Ethiopians, irrespective of ethnicity, religion and political affiliation, receive life-saving aid and that humanitarian access to areas affected by conflict and insecurity is restored.Where items require an export licence, HM Government takes its strategic export responsibilities seriously and will assess all export licences in accordance with the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. We will not grant a licence authorising the supply of controlled items anywhere in the world, if to do so would be inconsistent with the Criteria. We continue to monitor the situation in Ethiopia closely, and we will take action to suspend, refuse or revoke licences - in line with the Criteria - if circumstances require.

China: Solomon Islands

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of PRC Chinese interference with the internal affairs of the Solomon Islands following that country's switch to recognising the PRC as the representative government of China.

Amanda Milling: The UK and Solomon Islands have a strong bilateral relationship with shared priorities including security, stability, economic development and tackling climate change. Bilateral relations between China and Solomon Islands are a matter for those two countries.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Carbon Emissions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Vicky Ford: The UK will continue to work with governments, businesses and civil society across the world to help achieve net zero emissions.In advance of COP26, our diplomats spent hundreds of hours lobbying governments for increased ambition on tackling climate change. Over 150 countries updated their emissions reduction targets and a net-zero target now covers 90% of the global economy, up from 30% two years ago when the UK assumed the Presidency. COP26 concluded with all 197 Parties agreeing to the Glasgow Climate Pact to keep 1.5°C alive and finalise the outstanding elements of the Paris Rulebook.This would not have been possible without the UK's diplomatic and policy work both ahead of and at COP26 in building coalitions and driving ambition. Throughout the UK's Presidency, we will work tirelessly with partners across the world to deliver and build on the Glasgow Climate Pact, support countries on the frontline of climate change and drive down emissions to reach net zero.

Afghanistan: Asylum

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions her Department is having with the Home Office on a scheme to allow human rights defenders, democratically elected representatives and women's rights champions from Afghanistan to find political asylum in the UK.

James Cleverly: The Government is pressing the Taliban to respect human rights in Afghanistan, including the rights of human rights defenders, democratically elected representatives and women's rights champions. The Government has also doubled its aid to Afghanistan. Resettlement in the UK can be a solution for only a small minority of Afghanistan's people. During Op Pitting the Government evacuated more than 15,000 people from Afghanistan to the UK, including some in the groups referred to. The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme has resettled thousands of at-risk Afghans who have worked with or alongside the UK government, and their families. The Afghan citizens resettlement scheme (ACRS) will provide further protection for people at risk identified as in need. The scheme is not yet open and further details will be announced in due course.

Afghanistan: Bank Services

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps she is taking at the World Bank and other multilateral institutions to tackle the banking and liquidity crisis in Afghanistan to allow teachers and other public sector workers to receive salary payments and schools and clinics to operate.

James Cleverly: The UK Government is prioritising support to the humanitarian response in Afghanistan. We are working closely with the World Bank and our partners on options to support essential basic services in Afghanistan to prevent an escalation in the humanitarian crisis. The UK has been at the forefront in supporting the repurposing of the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, including the recently announced release of $280m to support basic health care and food security. We are also supporting proposals to address banking and liquidity issue.

UNRWA

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment the Government has made of the long-term financial implications of the UN Relief and Works Agency’s entitled beneficiaries.

James Cleverly: The UK is a long-term supporter of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). We are working with UNRWA to improve their financial viability. This includes broadening UNRWA's donor base, encouraging the full disbursement of pledges and encouraging support through multi-year funding. I reiterated this at the International Conference on UNRWA on 16 November.

Yemen: Humanitarian Situation

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions and communications she has had with her counterparts and representatives of the United Nations regarding the Panel of Experts on Yemen’s Final Report; if she will intervene to ensure that this year’s report does not have a negative effect on the ability of Yemen’s private sector to provide humanitarian aid; and if her officials will take steps to help ensure that no unsubstantiated assertions or erroneous allegations are published in the forthcoming Panel of Experts report.

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Final Report for 2021 of the Panel of Experts on Yemen to the UN Security Council is (a) evidence-based, (b) accurate and (c) does not contain information which may hamper the efforts of humanitarian organisations engaged in delivering relief on the ground in Yemen.

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make representations to the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen to help ensure that its Final Report for 2021 is evidence-based and fairly constituted.

James Cleverly: The UN Panel of Experts on Yemen plays a vital role in providing independent monitoring on the implementation of the UN sanctions regime. Officials engage with the Panel throughout the year to facilitate its work by sharing evidence, and encourage other international partners to do the same. With 90% of Yemen's food imported, the UK recognises the important work of Yemen's food importers at a time of increasing food insecurity. Following the Panel of Expert's last report, we have liaised with the Panel of Experts and the HSA Group, Yemen's primary food importer, on the robust use of evidence and analysis in reporting.

Iran: Nuclear Weapons

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department made of progress in Iranian nuclear discussions taking place in Vienna in December 2021.

James Cleverly: We are currently engaged in negotiations in Vienna aimed at restoring the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). Iran has demanded major changes outside the JCPoA, which undermine the parameters agreed by participants. The latest round of talks resumed on 9 December to see whether gaps can be closed following consultation with capitals. Iran must decide whether to conclude the fair and comprehensive deal on the table, for the benefit of the Iranian people and economy, or collapse the JCPoA.

Iran: Uranium

Chris Clarkson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the accuracy of reports that Iran has produced 25kg of uranium enriched to 60 per cent purity.

James Cleverly: Iran has been in non-compliance with its Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) commitments since 2019. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verified that since April 2021, Iran has produced highly enriched uranium  (HEU) at 60%. It is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons to enrich at 60%.

Academic Technology Approval Scheme

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs,  (a) what estimate she has made of the average processing time for Academic Technology Approval Scheme certificates; and (b) what steps she has taken to reduce this waiting period.

James Cleverly: The Government has increased Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) processing and assessment capacity in the past 12 months. This has helped manage the unprecedented surge in ATAS applications - in part due to course deferrals from 2020 - and ensured that the vast majority of applications are processed within advertised timeframes.

Western Sahara: Trade Agreements

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2021 to Question 57453 on Western Sahara: Trade Agreements, whether the Polisario Front was consulted on the inclusion of products from the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara in the UK-Morocco Association Agreement.

James Cleverly: The UK is clear that the application of the UK-Morocco Association Agreement is without prejudice to our position on the status of Western Sahara, which we regard as undetermined. The UK supports UN-led efforts to reach a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.Products originating in Western Sahara subject to controls by customs authorities of Morocco benefit from the same trade preferences as those granted by the United Kingdom to products covered by the Agreement.

Benin: Politics and Government

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the strength of democratic institutions in Benin.

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Government of Benin in response to the jailing of opposition figures in recent weeks.

Vicky Ford: The UK supports freedom of expression as both a human right in and of itself, and as an essential element for the enjoyment of other human rights. Following the May 2020 local elections in Benin, we were concerned at the low rate of participation and that only one opposition party took part. This was despite the provisional ruling of the African Court of Human and People's Rights that the Government of Benin should take steps to avoid the exclusion of opposition parties. The UK was also concerned to see the violence that marked the presidential elections in April 2021.Freedom of expression is an essential quality of any functioning democracy; people must be allowed to discuss and debate issues freely, to challenge their governments, and to make informed decisions. The UK hopes President Talon's recent dialogue with his predecessor Thomas Boni Yayi in September 2021 will lead to a formal dialogue with opposition parties in Benin.

Afghanistan: Asylum

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure that Afghan Christians and religious minorities are provided with safe and accessible routes to claim asylum in the UK.

James Cleverly: The Government is pressing the Taliban to respect human rights in Afghanistan, including the rights of Christians and religious minorities, and to allow safe passage for Afghans to travel abroad. The Government has also doubled its aid to Afghanistan. Resettlement in the UK can be a solution for only a small minority of Afghanistan's people. During Operation Pitting the Government evacuated more than 15,000 people from Afghanistan to the UK, including some in the groups referred to. The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme has resettled thousands of at-risk Afghans who have worked with or alongside the UK Government, and their families. The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will provide further protection for people at risk identified as in need. The scheme is not yet open and further details will be announced in due course.

Africa: Coronavirus

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the scale of funded demand from Covax vaccine distribution programmes for African states in fully utilising available covid vaccine production capacity.

Amanda Milling: The UK is committed to ending the acute phase of the pandemic as soon as possible and strongly supports the COVAX Facility as a key mechanism to deliver this. We are among the largest donors to COVAX's Advance Market Commitment, providing £548 million that will help supply at least 1.8 billion COVID-19 vaccines to up to 92 low and middle-income countries by early 2022. The UK will also donate 100 million COVID-19 vaccines to countries in need, 80 per cent of which will go through COVAX.The UK recognises that community demand as well as health system capacity and vaccine hesitancy are key factors for delivering an effective vaccine rollout. Through FCDO's Africa Vaccine Confidence Campaign, the UK is working with experts at the Wits University in South Africa to build vaccine confidence. The UK, along with partners in COVAX, is also working with country governments to help health systems be better prepared in delivering vaccines. This includes engaging communities to build trust, provide correct information and encourage uptake.

Ministry of Defence

Ajax Vehicles: Finance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the whole life costs forecast is for AJAX.

Jeremy Quin: The forecast cost for the Assessment and Demonstration & Manufacture phases and for contracted support (up to the end of the initial support contract) for the AJAX project is £5,915 million. (This forecast figure which is reviewed bi-annually will differ from the budget figure. It relates specifically to the Ajax Project within the Armoured Cavalry Programme.)

Ajax Vehicles: Expenditure

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total CDEL cost is for the AJAX armoured fighting vehicle up to 13 December 2021.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the RDEL cost is for the AJAX armoured fighting vehicle up to 13 December 2021..

Jeremy Quin: RDEL Expenditure on AJAX programme up to 30 November 2021 is £217 million.CDEL Expenditure on AJAX programme up to 30 November 2021 is £3,961 million.The total amount of cash paid remains at £3,167 million (incl. VAT) under the firm price contract with GDUK and a further £263 million on other items under the programme. The accruals largely reflect progress made by GD under the contract but for which cash payments have not been made as appropriate milestones have not yet been achieved.

Department for Work and Pensions

Kickstart Scheme: Hospitality Industry

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of businesses in the UK's hospitality sector have taken part in the Government's Kickstart scheme.

Mims Davies: As of 8th December, the Department for Work and Pensions’ Kickstart Scheme has seen over 112,000 jobs started by young people. These jobs are assigned to a sector based on the type of work required by that particular role. We do not centrally collate data on the sector of each employer participating in the Scheme. A digital Kickstart job, for example, could be for an employer in the hospitality industry. For recent statistics on the number of Kickstart jobs started and made available by sector, I refer the honourable member to PQ 71418. As a part of the evaluation of the Kickstart scheme, the Department for Work and Pensions will examine engagement with the scheme across different sectors. To support the hospitality industry during the pandemic, the Government published it’s hospitality strategy in July (Hospitality strategy: reopening, recovery, resilience) and has put in place a number of measures including supporting the development of hospitality-led regeneration hubs through our levelling-up agenda, creating opportunities for the sector and increased job opportunities.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: Newport West

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the end of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme on the disability employment gap in Newport West constituency.

Chloe Smith: Reliable data on the disability employment gap at constituency level is only available using annual estimates due to sample sizes. An initial assessment of disability employment following the closure of the furlough scheme in September 2021 will not be available until Spring 2022. This is when Annual Population Survey data, including the period October to December 2021, will be released. However, it will be some time before a full assessment can be made.

Universal Credit

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of support for universal credit claimants who had previously been in receipt of enhanced disability payments.

Chloe Smith: When designing Universal Credit the Government chose to concentrate financial support on the most severely disabled people to create a simpler and more streamlined system.The Universal Credit rate for the most severely disabled people, the limited capability for work and work- related activity addition, is more than double the equivalent rate for the Employment and Support Allowance support group. This means claimants who were previously in the Employment and Support Allowance support group and only receiving the enhanced disability premium, are better off on Universal Credit.Additional support is available through the National Disability Strategy and the Government’s Health and Disability green paper aims to continue to improve the support available.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Carbon Emissions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Jo Churchill: Our plan for Net Zero will generate thousands of well-paid jobs here in the UK, help us develop thriving, leading-edge green industries, strengthen our energy security, and improve our health and well-being. Acting now will put us at the forefront of large, expanding global markets and allow us to capitalise on export opportunities so that the UK becomes an importer rather than a customer of the technology of the future. This is why the Government's approach will be tech-led using the best of British technology and innovation – just as we did in the last industrial revolution – to help make homes and buildings warmer, the air cleaner and our journeys greener, all while creating thousands of jobs in new future-proof industries. Our Net Zero Strategy sets out a plan to: Level up our country supporting up to 190,000 green jobs in 2025 and up to 440,000 jobs across net zero sectors in 2030Build a secure, home-grown energy sector which ends our dependency on volatile foreign gas prices, which will help protect consumers and businesses.Leverage new private investments of up to £90 billion by 2030 levelling-up our former industrial heartlands.The policies and spending brought forward in the Net Zero Strategy mean that since the Ten Point Plan, we have mobilised £26 billion of government capital investment for the green industrial revolution. More than £5.8 billion of foreign investment in green projects has also been secured since the launch of the Ten Point Plan, along with at least 56,000 jobs in the UK’s clean industries.Take a credible and conservative approach to cutting our climate emissions, putting us on track to meet our carbon reduction targets, including our Nationally Determined Contribution (68% reduction by 2030) and Carbon Budget 6 (78% 2035) - building on our successes since 2010. We set out the steps Defra is taking to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 in the Net Zero Strategy. This includes: Boosting the existing £640m Nature for Climate Fund with a further £124m of new money, ensuring total spend of more than £750m by 2025 on peat restoration, woodland creation and management.Trebling woodland creation rates by the end of this Parliament, reflecting England’s contribution to meeting the UK’s overall target of increasing planting rates to 30,000 hectares per year by the end of this Parliament and maintain new planting at least at this level from 2025 onwards.Restoring approximately 280,000 hectares of peatlands in England by 2050.Supporting low carbon farming and agricultural innovation, through the Farming Investment Fund and the Farming Innovation Programme, as well as future environmental land management schemes.Investing £75 million on net zero related R&D across natural resources, waste and f-gases, to inform our pathway to 2037.

Agriculture: Carbon Emissions

Robert Largan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support (a) farmers in the transition to net zero and (b) sustainable land management practices.

Victoria Prentis: We are introducing three schemes that reward the delivery of environmental benefits: the Sustainable Farming Incentive, the Local Nature Recovery scheme and the Landscape Recovery scheme. Our approach to environmental land management is the cornerstone of our new agricultural policy and will be realised through a combination of schemes using public money to reward farmers and land managers for delivering environmentally sustainable actions. The schemes are intended to provide a powerful vehicle for achieving the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan and commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, while supporting our rural economy. The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) will pay farmers for actions they take (going beyond regulatory requirements) to manage their land in an environmentally sustainable way. Actions will be grouped into simple packages set out as standards, to make it as easy as possible for farmers to identify the actions that are best suited to their land and their business. From 2022, the initial SFI offer will consist of a soils standard, a moorland and rough grazing standard and an animal health and welfare review. The SFI 2022 offer will contribute to our efforts to reach Net Zero – assuming by 2028 the soil standards cover 50% to 70% of eligible agricultural soil in England, this could save approximately 330 to 460 thousand tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2028. Then, we will gradually expand the scheme until all elements are available from 2024/25 onwards. The Local Nature Recovery scheme will reward farmers and other land managers for producing environmental benefits. It will empower land managers to build tailored agreements that help deliver our national environmental priorities in a locally responsive way. The Landscape Recovery scheme will support the delivery of landscape and ecosystem recovery through long-term, large-scale projects, including projects to restore wilder landscapes in places where that is appropriate, large-scale tree planting and peatland restoration projects. These projects can deliver a wide variety of environmental outcomes and support local environmental priorities while making an important contribution to national targets.

Eggs: Supply Chains

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is planning to take to tackle unfair practices in the egg supply chain.

Victoria Prentis: The Agriculture Act 2020 contains powers to introduce statutory codes of practice which would apply to businesses when purchasing agricultural products directly from farmers. We intend to use these powers in a targeted way where there is clear evidence of unfair practices in specific agricultural sectors and statutory codes will help address the issues. The Government will continue to work closely with all sectors, including the egg industry, to discuss any supply chain issues.

Food

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made to the potential merits of including a public-private partnership focusing on fibre in the Government’s Food Strategy White Paper.

Victoria Prentis: The forthcoming Government Food Strategy is a once in a generation opportunity to create a food system that feeds our nation today and protects it for tomorrow. It will build on existing work across Government and identify new opportunities to make the food system healthier, more sustainable, more resilient, and more accessible for those across the UK.We want to make it as easy as possible for people to shift towards a greener and more sustainable lifestyle, whilst maintaining people's freedom of choice, including on their diet. The Government's advice in the Eatwell Guide, which provides advice on how to have a healthier and more sustainable diet, recommends food that is high in fibre, fruit, and vegetables.Defra is committed to listening to opinions from stakeholders across the entirety of the food system. We actively encourage dialogues with a wide range of stakeholders to identify options to transform the food system and are keen to work closely with industry to deliver lasting change.

Food

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his timetable is for publishing the Food Strategy White Paper.

Victoria Prentis: The Government will publish a Food Strategy in early 2022. This will consider the evidence of Henry Dimbleby’s review of the food system and build on existing work across Government to identify new opportunities to make the food system healthier, more sustainable, more resilient, and more accessible for those across the UK.

Reindeer: Animal Welfare

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure the welfare of reindeer being used at seasonal events during winter 2021-22.

Jo Churchill: Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, it is an offence to cause any animal unnecessary suffering or to fail to provide for its welfare. Anyone who is cruel to an animal, or does not provide for its welfare, may be banned from owning animals. They may also face an unlimited fine, be sent to prison, or both. The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 require that anyone in the business of keeping or training animals for exhibition needs a valid licence from their local authority. Licences must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse or revoke licences. The 2018 Regulations are accompanied by statutory guidance notes developed to help local authorities enforce the licensing regime: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/animal-activities-licensing-guidance-for-local-authorities The 2018 Regulations are due to be reviewed five years after they came into force (2023) and so this will be an appropriate time to re-examine the minimum standards, the associated guidance and consider any major changes. If anyone has any concerns about the welfare of any animal that is being temporarily exhibited at a seasonal event, they should report the matter to the relevant local authority who have powers to investigate.

Ivory Act 2018

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to implement the provisions of the Ivory Act 2018.

Jo Churchill: Earlier this year we ran a consultation on the implementation of the Ivory Act 2018 and on 14 September we published a summary of responses confirming our plans for implementation. More recently we ran a consultation on additional enforcement requirements to the Ivory Act 2018 and published the government response on 6 December. There are no more consultations required ahead of us introducing secondary legislation to implement the Act, and establish enforcement provisions to bring the ban into force. We plan to implement the Ivory Act this winter and for the ban to come into force in Spring 2022.

Pets: Animal Welfare

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of domestic pets being left for rehoming with animal welfare charities in each of the last three years.

Jo Churchill: Defra does not hold exact data on the number of domestic pets being left for rehoming annually over the last three years. However, the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes (ADCH) annual returns for 2018, 2019 and 2020 show that: The intake for dogs in 2018 was 72,191; The intake for cats in 2018 was 90,815; The intake for dogs in 2019 was 65,080; The intake for cats in 2019 was 99,738; The intake for dogs in 2020 was 44,771; The intake for cats in 2020 was 56,672.  The ADCH figures for 2021 will be available early next year.

Home Office

Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis: Diego Molano

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis on her meeting with the Colombian Defence Minister in December 2021.

Kit Malthouse: The UK Government does not comment on the content of meetings held by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and other Government authorities.

Internet: Harassment

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that online platforms are obliged to cooperate with the police and with other platforms to pursue perpetrators of abuse on their platforms.

Rachel Maclean: The Online Safety Bill will place duties on companies to take responsibility for the safety of their users. All companies will need to take swift and effective action against criminal online abuse. If platforms don’t fulfil their duties, they could face an investigation and enforcement action.The Joint Committee on the Draft Online Safety Bill published a report on 14 December, having conducted pre-legislative scrutiny on the draft bill. The report included recommendations on cooperation between platforms and law enforcement in relation to identifying the perpetrators of online abuse. We are currently in the process of considering the recommended changes to the legislation that the committee have proposed, including on this issue.We are grateful for the committee’s work and we will introduce the Bill as soon as possible, once we have considered their recommendations.

European Arrest Warrants

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been extradited from (a) the UK to Europe and (b) Europe to the UK under the European arrest warrant in 2021.

Rachel Maclean: The Home Office does not hold this information.The NCA data is available online at: https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/what-we-do/how-we-work/providing-specialist-capabilities-for-law-enforcement/fugitives-and-international-crime/european-arrest-warrants

Refugees: Afghanistan

Sir Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government has taken to provide refuge for Afghan women judges who are eligible for the Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme; and when that scheme will open.

Victoria Atkins: We are working across government and with partners such as UNHCR to design the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), amidst a complex and changing picture. We are committed to working in step with the international community to get this right, and we will set out more details soon.The first to be resettled through the ACRS will be some of those who arrived in the UK under the evacuation programme, which included individuals who were considered to be at particular risk.Eligible people will be prioritised and referred for resettlement to the UK as set out in the policy statement published on gov.uk on 13 September, available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-resettlement-and-immigration-policy-statement

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Regional Planning and Development

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps the Government plans to take to (a) reduce health disparities and (b) improve healthy life expectancy through the levelling up white paper.

Neil O'Brien: The forthcoming levelling up white paper will set out the UK Government’s approach to tackling spatial inequalities across the country in order to improve outcomes in places where they are weakest. Addressing stark disparities in health outcomes between places is an important part of levelling up, because people should have the opportunity to live long, healthy lives wherever they live.The Government is already taking action to address disparities in health outcomes, including through a £2.3 billion investment in diagnostics over the Spending Review period, which will increase the number of Community Diagnostic Centres, expanding diagnostic capacity across the country whilst targeting investment at areas of deprivation.

Regional Planning and Development: Scotland

David Duguid: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department has taken to level up coastal areas in north-east Scotland to date.

Neil O'Brien: The UK Government is committed to levelling up areas across the UK including north east Scotland. Aberdeen City Council has been awarded £20 million from the Levelling Up Fund. Projects in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire have also been allocated funding exceeding £1 million from the UK Community Renewal Fund.

Parking: Codes of Practice

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to respond to thefurther technical consultation to the parking code enforcement framework.

Neil O'Brien: The consultation closed on 27 August and the Department is finalising its analysis of the responses. Our intention is to publish the consultation response together with the new Code of Practice as soon as possible so that motorists can benefit and industry has time to adapt itself to the new requirements.

Rented Housing: Coronavirus

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has plans to undertake an assessment of the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on Black renters.

Eddie Hughes: The Department gathers a range of evidence to understand the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on renters. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department commissioned the Household Resilience Study – a follow-up to the English Housing Survey, conducted in 3 waves between June 2020 and May 2021. The research collected examines how households have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and includes information on protected characteristics, including ethnicity.The third and final wave of the survey was run in April-May 2021 and published in October 2021. Data tables and a report of the main findings are provided on Gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/household-resilience-study-wave-3.We consider the impact of all decisions on those with protected characteristics, including on different ethnicities, in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Carbon Emissions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Eddie Hughes: From 2025, DLUHC will introduce the Future Homes Standard which will ensure that new homes produce lower emissions, and the Future Buildings Standard will ensure highly efficient non-domestic buildings. On 15 December, the Department published the government response to the Future Buildings Standard consultation and implemented an interim uplift to the Building Regulations. From next summer, when the new regulations come into force, new homes will be expected to produce around 30% fewer carbon emissions and new non-domestic buildings will be expected to produce 27% fewer carbon emissions.In July 2021, we updated the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), placing a stronger emphasis on delivering sustainable development and a proactive approach to mitigating and adapting to climate change. The NPPF highlights that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development through economic, social and environmental objectives which include protecting our natural environment and moving to a low carbon economy.

Treasury

Economic Growth

John Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to stimulate growth in the economy.

John Glen: In the spring, the government set out plans to build back better through significant investment in innovation, infrastructure and skills. Stimulating business investment is key for economic growth, and under the super deduction we announced at Spring Budget 2021, for every £1 a company invests in qualifying plant and machinery, its taxes are cut by up to 25p. We have also launched the UK Infrastructure Bank, which will partner with the private sector and local government to support infrastructure investment. The recent Budget and SR took further steps to put the plan for growth into action. This includes:Bringing the total committed to economic infrastructure since the publication of the National Infrastructure Strategy to over £130 billion.Increasing public investment in R&D to £20 billion by 2024-25, supporting businesses throughout the UK to become more innovative and productive.Investing in skills, including boosting opportunities for adults to upskill and retrain, delivering the government’s commitment to a National Skills Fund, investing in adult numeracy and increasing apprenticeship funding.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Archaeology: Investment

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to invest in archaeological projects (a) overseen by or (b) that directly support museums.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government invests in and supports archaeological projects in a number of ways, including funding through arm’s-length bodies such as Historic England and The National Heritage Memorial Fund. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has further supported a number of archaeological providers through the Cultural Recovery Fund (CRF) – for instance, York Archaeological Trust, which received £1,926,420, Dorset Natural History & Archaeological Society, which received £979,000, and The Sussex Archaeological Society, which received a total of £821,300 across the first two rounds of the CRF.Additionally, the British Museum and Amguedffa Cymru/National Museum of Wales Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is funded in England by DCMS as part of its grant in aid to the British Museum. The PAS is a voluntary scheme for recording archaeological finds made by members of the public. In 2019 over 81,000 finds were recorded and there are currently 843 research projects ranging from PhD to A Level using the scheme’s information.

Museums and Galleries: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he will take to ensure the adequate funding of regional museums.

Nigel Huddleston: DCMS supports museums across the country through Arts Council England, whose core investment in museums has increased, with 72 museums and museum support organisations sharing over £36 million of taxpayer funding per annum in 2018-22 – a significant increase compared to the 2015-18 major partner museums programme.The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the UK-wide National Lottery distributor for heritage projects. Most funding is for capital projects, with some other sector support. Since 1994 the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded over £2.2 billion to more than 5,600 museum, library, archive and collection-based projects across the UK.Historic England also provides funding for historic buildings at risk, to help them repair and conserve their historic sites. Several museums have benefited from such funding, and continue to do so.Final allocations for these arm’s-length bodies for the next three-year Spending Review period will be confirmed in the New Year following DCMS’s internal business planning process.The VAT33A Refund Scheme for Museums and Galleries allows accredited museums across the UK to claim back VAT incurred on most goods and services purchased in order to grant free rights of admission to their collections.The Government also confirmed a variety of measures to support regional museums at Budget 2021 including:an extension of the Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief (MGETR) for a further two years until 31 March 2024;a temporary increase in the headline rates of relief for MGETR, for exhibitions commencing their production stage after 27 October 2021;confirmation of the £153 million Cultural Investment Fund for cultural infrastructure projects, which includes support for the Museum Estate and Development Fund to tackle urgent maintenance backlogs in accredited regional museums in England; andconfirmation that the National Railway Museum in York will continue to receive funding towards the Vision 2025 transformation project.

Sports: Schools

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what her Department's timeframe is for confirming funding for the School Games Organiser Network beyond March 2022.

Nigel Huddleston: The government has confirmed that funding for the School Games Organiser network will be available for the full 2021/22 academic year.The government is considering arrangements for the School Games Organiser network for the 2022-23 academic year and beyond, and will confirm the position in the new year.

Social Media: Abuse

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that social media companies (a) invest in human moderation to support reporting and content moderation systems and (b) provide training and support to enable staff to respond effectively to abuse taking place on their platforms.

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that social media companies do not rely solely on artificial intelligence or algorithm systems to protect users from abuse taking place on their platforms.

Chris Philp: Under the draft Online Safety Bill, social media companies will have new duties to protect their users from harmful content such as online abuse. Ofcom, as the independent regulator, will recommend proportionate systems and processes, including for content moderation, that social media companies should put in place to fulfil these duties. We anticipate that Ofcom will recommend a combination of human moderation and other systems, depending on what is effective and proportionate for in-scope services.

Internet: Safety

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to (a) ensure that providers of online platforms consider how their products can be used to perpetrate online abuse and (b) place a responsibility on those providers to embed safety by design in their technology.

Chris Philp: A safety by design approach will be crucial for compliance with future online safety legislation. The Online Safety Bill will help ensure companies effectively manage the risk that their services present; this includes how they may be used to perpetrate online abuse. All companies in scope will be required to complete a risk assessment. Companies will need to understand the risks that their design choices present to users and put in place appropriate mitigation actions. The Government is also taking action now, in advance of the legislation coming into force, to ensure that online platforms are designed to be safe for users. We published voluntary safety by design guidance in June this year, which sets out best practice platform design for user safety.

Internet: Females

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Unsocial Spaces report, published by Refuge in October 2021, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the finding by Refuge that one in three women in the UK have suffered online abuse.

Chris Philp: Online abuse is unacceptable and we are committed to protecting women’s safety.Under the draft Online Safety Bill, companies in scope will need to minimise and remove illegal content including criminal online abuse targeted at women.Major platforms will also need to address legal but harmful content for adults.These companies will have to set out clearly what legal content is acceptable on their platforms and enforce their terms and conditions consistently and transparently.If platforms fail in their duties under the Bill, they will face tough enforcement action including fines of up to 10% of global annual qualifying turnover.The government also asked the Law Commission to review existing legislation on harmful online communications. The Law Commission has published its final report putting forward recommendations for reform, including several new offences. The government is considering the Law Commission’s recommendations and will set out its position in due course.

Internet: Females

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that statutory regulation of online platforms explicitly reflects the harms and impact of online abuse and other forms of online violence against women and girls.

Chris Philp: Under the draft Online Safety Bill, companies in scope will need to minimise and remove illegal content including criminal online abuse targeted at women. They will also have to protect children, including young girls, from harmful or inappropriate content.Major platforms will also need to address legal but harmful content for adults. Priority categories of legal but harmful content for adults will be set out in secondary legislation and these are likely to include forms of online abuse that disproportionately affect women and girls, like misogynistic abuse. These companies will have to set out clearly what legal content is acceptable on their platforms and enforce their terms and conditions consistently and transparently.Ofcom will have a suite of enforcement powers available to use against companies who fail their duties. These powers include fines for companies of up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying annual global turnover, and business disruption measures.

Internet: Young People

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure the safety of young people online.

Chris Philp: Protecting young people online is a priority for the government. In May 2021, we published the draft Online Safety Bill, which places duties on platforms to protect their users from harmful content and activity. The strongest protections in the legislation are for children. Services which are likely to be accessed by children will have to protect children from inappropriate and harmful content like pornography, and behaviour such as bullying. The regulator, Ofcom, will be able to take enforcement action against companies that fail to comply.Ahead of online safety legislation, the UK’s regulatory regime for video sharing platforms requires UK-established platforms to take appropriate measures to protect children from harmful material. In addition, the Information Commissioner’s Age Appropriate Design Code, which came into force in September 2021, provides stronger protections for children’s personal data.The government also recognises that it is important that children and parents are supported to stay safe online. In July 2021, we published the Online Media Literacy Strategy. This supports the empowerment of users, including young people, with the skills and knowledge they need to make safe and informed decisions online, whilst making the most of all the internet has to offer. In June 2021, we also published Safety by Design guidance and a “One Stop Shop” on child online safety. These provide voluntary guidance on steps that platforms can take to design safer services and protect children.

Football Index: Compensation

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to develop a plan for how compensation will be guaranteed for people affected by the collapse of the Football Index.

Chris Philp: The government appreciates the significant impact that the collapse of the novel gambling product Football Index had on former customers. BetIndex, the company which operated Football Index, went into liquidation on 5 November. The process is continuing and it is likely that this will result in some amounts being reimbursed to creditors. There is no compensation scheme for losses caused by a gambling firm ceasing to operate and the government does not think it would be appropriate to use public funds for these purposes.

Broadband

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many and what proportion of properties have access to superfast broadband in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, (b) Bexley Borough, (c) Greater London and (d) the UK.

Julia Lopez: According to the independent website Thinkbroadband, 98.9% of premises in the constituency of Bexleyheath and Crayford, 98.8% in Bexley Borough, and 97.6% in Greater London have access to superfast broadband (>= 30 Mbps). These are all higher than the UK average of 96.9%.

Musicians: EU Countries

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress she has made on supporting touring musicians to continue to work in Europe.

Julia Lopez: This government is working hard to help touring musicians work in Europe. That is why we have spoken to every EU Member State about the importance of touring. From these discussions, 21 out of 27 Member States have now confirmed they offer visa and work permit free routes for musicians and creative professionals, including Spain which introduced a new visa exemption after extensive lobbying from the sector and this government.We are working with the remaining 6 Member States that do not allow any visa or permit free touring, to encourage them to make touring easier. We want all our European colleagues to be able to enjoy the economic and cultural benefits that UK touring artists bring, as we do from EU creative performers who can tour here easily.We have also helped to provide clarity on many other issues, and arrangements in some areas are much more workable than previously reported. For example, accompanied portable musical instruments may not require a carnet, and ‘splitter vans’ are not subject to EU cabotage rules. We recognise challenges remain around touring, and we are continuing to work closely with the industry to help musicians and performers resume touring with confidence.

Broadband: West Worcestershire

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on (a) West Worcestershire rural broadband projects numbers 50348, 47608 and 35185 and (b) vouchers requested but not issued to broadband projects in West Worcestershire.

Julia Lopez: The three specific projects referred to are associated with Openreach’s Community Fibre Partnership (CFP) Scheme which they operate all over the UK. Openreach use this scheme as an aggregation platform to gather initial contact details and ‘pledges’ (in their terminology) for communities who want to improve their broadband. Since the launch of the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) in 2018, Openreach has encouraged communities in eligible areas to use the voucher funding provided by the Government to contribute towards the cost of installing the network to rural communities.Openreach have provided proposals for these three projects to Building Digital UK (BDUK), who are working closely with Openreach to progress them as soon as possible. Upon receipt in each case, the details of the project, including the beneficiaries involved and funding information, are reviewed by BDUK to confirm these are all correct and the project is compliant. Once these checks have been satisfactorily completed the vouchers will be issued.

Gambling Act 2005 Review

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on her plans to publish a white paper on the Gambling Review.

Chris Philp: DCMS officials have met Welsh Government officials to discuss the Gambling Act Review and ministers have exchanged letters. Submissions to our call for evidence which were particularly pertinent to Wales have been shared on request, with the permission of the respondent. The Government plans to publish a white paper setting out next steps in the coming months and will continue to engage with the Welsh Government.

Internet: Safety

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps she has taken to help protect children in Newport West constituency from online harms.

Chris Philp: Protecting children online is a priority for the government. In May 2021, we published the draft Online Safety Bill, which places duties on platforms to protect their users from harmful content and activity. The strongest protections in the legislation are for children. Services which are likely to be accessed by children will have to protect children from inappropriate and harmful content like pornography, and behaviour such as bullying. The regulator, Ofcom, will be able to take enforcement action against companies that fail to comply.Ahead of online safety legislation, the UK’s regulatory regime for video sharing platforms requires UK-established platforms to take appropriate measures to protect children from harmful material. In addition, the Information Commissioner’s Age Appropriate Design Code, which came into force in September 2021, provides stronger protections for children’s personal data.The government also recognises that it is important that children and parents are supported to stay safe online. In July 2021, we published the Online Media Literacy Strategy. This supports the empowerment of users, including young people, with the skills and knowledge they need to make safe and informed decisions online, whilst making the most of all the internet has to offer. In June 2021, we also published Safety by Design guidance and a “One Stop Shop” on child online safety. These provide voluntary guidance on steps that platforms can take to design safer services and protect children.

Internet: Safety

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Ofcom’s proposed enforcement powers in the Online Safety Bill.

Chris Philp: Ofcom will enforce the new online safety regime with tough powers to take action against companies breaching their duties, including substantial fines, requiring companies to take action and even blocking services in the most serious cases.The Bill will also provide for Ofcom to pursue criminal action where a senior manager fails to ensure that their company complies with its information requirements.We are confident these robust enforcement powers will push strong compliance, hold the tech sector to account and incentivise companies to go further in protecting people online.

Social Media: Safety

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to include provisions in the Online Safety Bill to extend to (a) WhatsApp and (b) one-to-one voice messages shared on social media platforms.

Chris Philp: The Online Safety Bill will apply to companies that allow users to post content online or to interact with each other, as well as search services. The new laws will apply to online instant messaging services, including WhatsApp and one-to-one voice messages on social media platforms.

Internet: Safety

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what level of funding her Department plans to allocate to Ofcom to support the duties proposed for that organisation in the Online Safety Bill.

Chris Philp: Through Spending Review 2021, over £110m has been allocated to the implementation of the online safety regime over the next three financial years (2022/23 - 2024/25). This will enable my Department to deliver the Online Safety Bill and will enable an independent regulator (Ofcom) to be established for the new regulatory framework which the Bill will put in place. It will also deliver a package of innovative online safety implementation measures which are required to implement the legislation and create the conditions for the legislation to be effective.This outcome will ensure that Ofcom has the resources it needs to establish its online safety functions for the successful implementation of the online safety legislation.Once the online safety regime is operational, Ofcom will be industry funded and therefore cost neutral to the government. Ofcom will be given powers to charge an annual fee to providers of a regulated service whose qualifying worldwide revenue meets a financial threshold. The fees charged to providers whose revenue is at or above the threshold will be differentiated and will be levied proportionately in order to recoup Ofcom’s annual operating costs.

Internet: Females

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that providers of online platforms are legally obliged to prioritise the prevention and investigation of abuse against women occurring on their platforms.

Chris Philp: Under the draft Online Safety Bill, companies in scope will need to protect users, including women, from illegal abuse. Services will need to have effective systems in place to minimise and remove illegal content.Major platforms will also need to address legal but harmful content for adults. Priority categories of legal but harmful content for adults will be set out in secondary legislation and these are likely to include some forms of online abuse.Ofcom will have a suite of enforcement powers available to use against companies who fail their duties. These powers include fines for companies of up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying annual global turnover, and business disruption measures.The draft Bill has been subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee. The Joint Committee reported with their recommendations on 14 December. We are considering the Committee’s recommendations and are committed to introducing the Bill as soon as possible after that.

Social Media: Abuse

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that social media companies (a) invest in raising awareness of online abuse and (b) routinely develop and promote safety guidance for users.

Chris Philp: In July 2021, the government published its Online Media Literacy Strategy, which sets out plans for improving media literacy capabilities across the UK. The Strategy supports the empowerment of users with the key skills and knowledge they need to make informed and safe choices online. Whilst working to support the media literacy of all users, the Strategy has an amplified focus on users who are vulnerable online, such as those who experience disproportionate levels of online abuse.The Strategy explores the role of online platforms, including social media companies, in supporting the media literacy of users. This includes calling on platforms to invest more in educational initiatives, explore the role that platform design choices can play in promoting media literacy to users, and improve transparency about data related to platform media literacy activity.

Internet: Regulation

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to (a) ensure that providers of online platforms are regulated by a robust, independent regulator and (b) require those providers to (i) monitor and (ii) report on abuse taking place on their platforms.

Chris Philp: The Online Safety Bill will entail a significant expansion of Ofcom’s existing responsibilities. We are working closely with Ofcom to ensure it is prepared for its new role, and to ensure the legislation is effectively implemented. This includes work to ensure it has the resources, skills and capabilities it needs to prepare to take on its new functions. Ofcom is already regulating UK-established video sharing platforms following the passage of the Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2020, which came into effect in November 2020. This experience will help prepare Ofcom for its online safety regulatory role.Under the new Bill, companies in scope will need to minimise and remove illegal content, including illegal abuse. They will also have to protect children from harmful or inappropriate content. The largest and highest risk companies will also be required to publish annual transparency reports about the steps they are taking to tackle online harms.If platforms fail in their duties under the Bill, they will face tough enforcement action including fines of up to 10% of annual global qualifying revenue, or £18m, whichever is the greater.

Local Press

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the role local newspapers play in keeping residents informed on local planning decisions, including those who either (a) don’t use or (b) have access to the internet.

Julia Lopez: The government recognises the importance of local newspapers to communities and the continued need to reach out to people who cannot, or prefer not to, digitally access information. The government is also mindful of the potential impact that any changes to the existing publicity requirements for statutory notices, including planning notices, might have on transparency and local democracy, as well as the potential effect on the sustainability of the local newspaper industry.

Press: Regulation

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the research commissioned by her Department from Plum Consulting, entitled Research into recent dynamics of the press sector in the UK and globally, published in May 2020, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the findings of that research on the impact of the decline of local press on the scrutiny of democratic functions.

Julia Lopez: Newspapers play an invaluable role in the fabric of our society. They remain uniquely placed to undertake the investigative journalism and scrutiny of public institutions, including local councils and our courts, that is vital to helping ensure a healthy democracy both nationally and at a local level.The government commissioned Plum Consulting’s research to better understand the link between newspapers and democratic engagement, alongside wider sector trends, in doing so supporting policy development to ensure the sustainability of the sector. The findings of the research confirm the importance of a free press to our democracy, drawing a direct correlation between local newspaper provision and electoral turnout. It also provided a snapshot of which areas have strong or poor coverage from local newspapers.

Mobile Phones: Universal Service Obligation

Chris Loder: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what mechanism Ofcom use to test the accuracy of information reported to them by mobile operators in relation to Universal Service Obligations.

Julia Lopez: When determining whether a premises is eligible for the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO), Ofcom takes into account data from Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) on the provision of a fixed wireless service over their networks. Broader mobile coverage is not taken into account.As part of Ofcom’s Connected Nations report MNOs are formally asked to provide a list of the premises where they are able to offer a service that meets the broadband USO specification, excluding any premises where they do not have sufficient capacity to serve Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) users. Ofcom’s analysis is based on this list of premises. MNOs are required to provide data that is as accurate as possible, but individual circumstances may mean actual availability is unable to match the prediction.Ofcom does not include Vodafone and O2 in this analysis. Vodafone has not provided an estimate of premise level coverage which factors in the capacity available for FWA users, and O2 currently does not offer a fixed wireless service.In terms of accuracy of this data, Ofcom tested whether fixed wireless could deliver decent broadband. It measured and published FWA performance service on the EE 4G network as part of its USO work programme (Annex 1 Page 84).Where a premises is indicated to have an available fixed wireless service that meets the USO specification but this turns out not to be the case, the customer is eligible to apply for the broadband USO.

Broadband: Infrastructure

Chris Loder: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential redundancy of broadband infrastructure following 5G rollout.

Julia Lopez: The government does not think the extensive deployment of 5G infrastructure will result in fixed broadband becoming redundant.As set out in 2017’s Future Technology Infrastructure Review, the government wants to ensure the UK has access to world-class digital connectivity in order to meet the growing demands of the consumers of the future. Both 5G and gigabit-capable fixed broadband infrastructure is essential to ensuring this, and that is why we have committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible, with at least 85% connectivity by 2025.Our ambition is for the majority of the population to have access to a 5G signal by 2027, and we also want to ensure that UK businesses reap the full benefits of 5G. All four mobile network operators have launched their 5G networks and our internal analysis suggests that 5G services are available in more than 385 locations across the UK.Through the Wireless Infrastructure Strategy we want to set out the development, deployment and adoption of 5G and future wireless networks in the UK. The government recognises the importance of ensuring that our wireless connectivity ambitions are technology neutral, and will complement other technologies including fixed broadband infrastructure.

Broadband and Mobile Phones: Remote Working

Chris Loder: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the impact of lack of broadband and mobile connectivity on the ability to work remotely during the outbreak of covid-19.

Julia Lopez: The government understands that digital connectivity is more important than ever in light of Covid-19 and the need to work from home. Superfast broadband (speeds greater than 30 Mbps) is now available to 97% of UK homes and businesses, up from 50% in 2010 as a result of the government’s £2 billion Superfast Broadband Programme. This means the vast majority of premises already have access to speeds far in excess of those required for home-working.In order to ensure all remaining premises are able to access the connectivity they need, the government has launched the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) in order to give every premises the legal right to request a decent, affordable broadband connection, providing download speeds of at least 10Mbps and upload speeds of 1Mbps. Ofcom has stated that a 10Mbps connection will allow multiple users to simultaneously use the internet, including web browsing, video streaming, video calling and gaming, and should be sufficient for home working requirements. According to Ofcom’s latest figures, just 0.4% premises in the UK are still without access to a decent broadband connection when taking into account both fixed and fixed wireless access.The government is also committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible to make sure UK citizens have access to the connectivity they will require in future. Since the initial lockdown began in March 2020, UK Gigabit coverage has risen from 18% to 65% today. By 2025, the Government’s goal is for at least 85% premises to have access to gigabit-capable networks and we are investing £5 billion to ensure hard-to-reach areas are not left behind in the digital revolution.DCMS continues to work alongside Ofcom to encourage Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to go further to support low-income families. Following our discussions with the telecoms sector, affordable social tariffs are now available from BT, Virgin Media, Hyperoptic, Community Fibre and KCOM for £15 per month to those on Universal Credit as well as other means-tested benefits. These ISPs operate in 99% of the UK. We continue to encourage all operators to introduce affordable tariffs.In terms of mobile coverage, 99% of premises in the UK have indoor 4G coverage from at least one mobile network operator (MNO), with 81% of premises covered by all four operators.To ensure all corners of the country are connected, the government’s £1 billion deal with the MNOs to deliver the Shared Rural Network, will see operators collectively increase mobile phone coverage throughout the UK to 95% of the UK landmass by the end of the programme, underpinned by legally binding coverage commitments. The programme will also provide guaranteed extra coverage to 280,000 premises, with further indirect improvements over time, including better indoor coverage in around 1.2m business premises and homes.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Carbon Emissions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Julia Lopez: Our plan for Net Zero will generate thousands of well-paid jobs here in the UK, help us develop thriving, world-leading green industries, strengthen our energy security, and improve our health and well-being. Acting now will put us at the forefront of the large, expanding global Green Technology and Sustainability markets. This will ensure that the UK is driving the technology of the future forward and will allow us to capitalise on export opportunities.This is why the government's approach will be tech-led using the best of British technology and innovation – just as we did in the last industrial revolution – to help make homes and buildings warmer, the air cleaner and our journeys greener, all while creating thousands of jobs in new future-proof industries.Our Net Zero Strategy sets out a plan to:Level up our country by supporting up to 190,000 green jobs in 2025 and up to 440,000 jobs across net zero sectors in 2030Build a secure, home-grown energy sector which ends our dependency on volatile foreign gas prices, which will help protect consumers and businesses.Leverage new private investments of up to £90 billion by 2030 levelling-up our former industrial heartlands.The policies and spending brought forward in the Net Zero Strategy mean that since the Ten Point Plan, we have mobilised £26 billion of government capital investment for the green industrial revolution. More than £5.8 billion of foreign investment in green projects has also been secured since the launch of the Ten Point Plan, along with at least 56,000 jobs in the UK’s clean industries.Take a credible and conservative approach to cutting our climate emissions, putting us on track to meet our carbon reduction targets, including our Nationally Determined Contribution (68% reduction by 2030) and Carbon Budget 6 (78% 2035) - building on our successes since 2010.